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Friday, August 22, 2014

Yankees Win Game, But Win McCarthy Trade by Landslide

Yesterday Brandon McCarthy continued the renaissance he began after being traded to the Yankees earlier this season, throwing a complete game, four-hit shut-out. He and Astros starter Dallas Keuchel combined to pitch the shortest game in the history of the new Yankee Stadium: two hours and seven minutes.

Are you kicking yourselves, Arizona Diamondbacks? If not, you should be.

We all know that Arizona prohibited McCarthy from throwing his cutter and, once he started throwing it for the Yankees, his entire season turned around. That was obviously a big mistake on Arizona's part. Then, on July 6th they just gave him up for, incredibly, Vidal Nuno.

But, go back. Way back, to May, when the Diamondbacks hired Tony LaRussa to be something called a Chief Baseball Officer. As Chief Baseball Officer, LaRussa has authority over the team's general manager. So it was LaRussa who was behind the trade of McCarthy.

LaRussa is also behind the handling of field manager Kirk Gibson, who he is leaving twisting in the wind while he continues to "evaluate" his performance. Ridiculous.

I know he's a Hall of Famer, but Tony LaRussa was so lauded for his on-the-field accomplishments. Aside from assisting Joe Torre at MLB headquarters, LaRussa has not experience as a baseball executive.

But, so what? That's the Diamonbacks' problem, not the Yankees'. The Yankees won the Nuno-McCarthy trade by a landslide, and it has helped them stay afloat up until now.